*A freed or fugitive slave starts with a +4 bonus to all saving throws vs. wizard spells from the enchantment/charm school and priest spells from the Charm sphere. If placed under any form of charm spell, a slave warrior makes new saving throws against the spell as if his Intellgence was 3 points higher, shortening the time between checks. He gains his +4 bonus vs. enchantment/charm spells on new rolls.

*From his years of grueling enslavement, work, punishment, and training, a slave warrior has a better chance to resist pain and stress. He gains a +3 bonus to his starting Health and Stamina scores.

*Once per day, a slave warrior may summon all his willpower and channel it into a sudden burst of energy that raises his Muscle score by 3 points for as many rounds as he has levels. This may occur during combat, when attempting to bend bars or lift gates, or under any other circumstance when strength is needed.

*A fugitive slave can survive on a minimum of food and water each day, half the amount anyone else of his race uses. He quickly develops better eating habits but in emergencies survives with little food.

*Coming from a mining and forging area has advantages. Metal armor (chain, plate, splint, scale) costs 20% less than normal, as do metal shields, helms, and melee weapons.

*Mirabarans can choose one of the following non-weapon proficiencies for free (in addition to the bonus proficiencies listed above): armorer, blacksmithing, or weaponsmithing.

*Because of their regular conflicts with such creatures, Mirabarans recieve a +1 bonus to hit against orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, and kobolds. This stacks with a gnome and dwarf Mirabaran’s racial bonuses against such creatures.

*A Mirabran has the same proficiency to Detecting Sliding/Shifting Walls or Rooms and Detect Stonework Traps, Pits, and Deadfalls as a Dwarf. If the character already has these detection proficiencies, he gains a +2 bonus on such checks.

*By nature, dwarves are nonmagical this gives a bonus to dwarves’ saving throws against attacks from magical wands, staves, rods, and spells. This bonus is +1 for every 3½ points of Health score. These bonuses are summarized on the Table below.

*Similarly, dwarves have exceptional resistance to toxic substances. All dwarven characters make saving throws against poison with the same bonuses that they get against magical attacks.

*In melee, dwarves add 1 to their attack rolls orcs, half-orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins.
Dwarves gain a +4 bonus to their AC against attacks made by ogres, trolls, giants, titans, or similar creatures.

*Dwarves are miners of great skill. Dwarves gain the following special “Detection Proficiencies”. Detection proficiencies may be used any time a dwarf is underground, within 10 feet of the particular phenomena. Determining depth underground is the exception to this rule and may be attempted any time. To use a detection proficiency, a dwarf must concentrate for one round. These otherwise work as normal non-weapon proficiencies, and can be improved beyond these initial values by spending proficiency slots. If successful, the dwarf sees the phenomenon or becomes aware of his approximate depth underground. If he fails, he cannot try again within that 10-foot area.
Detect grade or slope in passage: Wis +4
Detect new tunnel/passage construction: Wis +4
Detect sliding/shifting walls or rooms: Wis +2
Detect stonework traps, pits, and deadfalls: Wis
Determine approximate depth underground: Wis

Penalties:

*Even freed slaves have lived as slaves all their lives and suffer a -3 reaction penalty in dealing with non-slave civilized characters. Escaped characters are suspicious and paranoid, and legitimately free characters still carry the social stigma of a slave’s birth.

*While they are highly trained, slave warriors must abide by the regimen set for them. Slave warriors may not gain weapon specialization or fighting style specialization at 1st level. After initial character creation, he may use his weapon proficiencies however he chooses.

*A runaway slave may be hunted by his former owner with the aid of bounty hunters and assassins.

*This hunting can go on for years, until his former owner and anyone else with an interest in him dies. The punishment for escaping slavery is nearly always death.

*Some NPCs that protect or worship nature are less than impressed with Mirabar’s haphazard mining tearing up the land. All reactions with such NPCs suffer a -2 penalty.

*The dwarves and gnomes of Mirabar are not as resistant to magical attacks as their peers. Their normal saving throw bonus associated with their Constitution score is reduced by 2. So a Mirabaran dwarf with a Constitution of 12 has only a +1 bonus, not the usual +3. This penalty does not reduce the bonus to less than 0.

*Because of their nonmagical nature dwarves have trouble using magical items. All magical items that are not specifically suited to the character’s class have a 20% chance to malfunction when used by a dwarf. This check is made each time a dwarf uses a magical item. A malfunction affects only the current use; the item may work properly next time. For devices that are continually in operation, the check is made the first time the device is used during an encounter. If the check is passed, the device functions normally until it is turned off. Thus, a dwarf would have to check upon donning a robe of blending but would not check again until he had taken the robe off and then put it on again. If a cursed item malfunctions, the character recognizes its cursed nature and can dispose of the item. Malfunction applies to rods, staves, wands, rings, amulets, potions, horns, jewels, and all other magical items except weapons, shields, armor, gauntlets, and girdles. This penalty does not apply to dwarven clerics using priest items.

Advancement Notes

All warriors gain the ability to make more than one melee attack per round as they rise in level. At 7th level, they can make 3 attacks every 2 rounds. At 13th level and up, they can make 2 attacks per round.

When engaged with large numbers of weak enemies (less than 1 HD each), the warrior gains double his normal number of attacks per round (including doubling attacks with off-hand weapons). Starting at 11th level, this applies to any foe with 10 fewer HD than the warrior’s levels (so a 12th level warrior can do this against 2HD creatures).

As a master of weapons, the fighter is the only character able to achieve Weapon Mastery. Weapon specialization and mastery enables the fighter to use a particular weapon with exceptional skill, improving his chances to hit and cause damage with that weapon. A fighter character is not required to specialize in or master a weapon; the choice is up to the player.

A fighter can teach weapon proficiencies when he reaches 3rd level and can train students in the use of any weapon in which he is specialized. The fighter may train a number of students equal to his level in a single “training class.” A training class requires eight hours of study each and every day for one month. At the end of that time, each student must make an Intelligence check. Those who pass gain a bonus proficiency slot in that weapon. A student may only be trained once, regardless of success, with a specific weapon. Students can learn any number of new proficiencies in this manner, even beyond those slots normally allowed for a character of that level.

A fighter can operate heavy war machines when he reaches 4th level, including bombardment engines (such as ballistae, catapults, and trebuchets), crushing engines (such as rams and bores), and siege towers.

A fighter can supervise the construction of defenses when he reaches 6th level. These include ditches and pits, fields of stakes, hasty stone and wooden barricades, and even semi-permanent stone fortifications.

A fighter can command large numbers of troops when he reaches 7th level. In role-playing terms, the fighter has mastered the skills and techniques to take charge of 100 soldiers per level. This includes terminology, use of messengers and signals, use of psionic and magical aids to communication, etc.

As a fighter increases in experience levels, his reputation as a warrior and leader grows. As word spreads, less experienced warriors who are eager to fight for the same causes seek him out. These followers remain loyal to the fighter for as long as they are not mistreated and there are battles to be fought. A fighter need not have a stronghold to attract these confederates. Followers are always gained in a group of ten individuals, which is called a stand. All ten are of the same race and experience level and have the same equipment. A unit consists of some number (usually 2d10) of identical stands.

Once a fighter reaches 10th level, he attracts his first unit of followers. This first unit always consists of warriors of the same race and background as the fighter (that is, if the fighter is part of a barbarian tribe, so is his first unit of followers). The first unit consists of 2d4 stands (20-80 individuals). Roll 1d3 to determine the level of the unit. As the fighter gains each new level beyond the 10th, he attracts another unit of followers. Roll dice to determine the number of stands in the unit and the level of the followers. These subsequent followers may be of very different backgrounds than the fighter himself.

A fighter can’t avoid gaining followers. Desperate people constantly look for great commanders, warriors who will lead them. These are merely the automatic followers that a fighter gains. In the course of a campaign, a player who wishes to role-play such situations might raise huge armies or gain control of an entire tribe for his character.

Bio:

Embry was born the fourteenth son of a family of minor importance in Mirabar. His early life was uneventful, spent mainly exploring the outskirts of the mines his father and brothers worked, and learning the basics of blacksmithing, having been promised to a local smith in an apprenticeship once he came of age. Once that apprenticeship began, his life turned down a disastrous course. Early in the second year of that apprenticeship he was travelling with his master to visit a former student of his, and inspect a project he was working on, when their caravan was attacked by orcs. The guards were overcome quickly, and Embry found himself captured and sold into bondage. At first he was thrown into a labor force, hauling stone blocks for some nameless master’s construction projects. His toughness and strength quickly drew the attention of his overseers, however, and he found himself once again on the trading block, this time as a slave warrior for the wizards of Thay. His natural resilience to magic made him valuable as an asset in their infighting. During the course of his captivity in Thay, he met a fellow slave by the name of Thorvald, who he came to admire greatly. Thorvald was an elderly human who had survived long enough to “retire” to the job of maintaining the supplies of the slave warriors. Thorvald recognized a spark in Embry that had not been extinguished by his time in captivity, and encourage him to stoke that inner fire, whatever it took. He told Embry to never forget where he came from, and to never give up hope of returning there. Embry took his advice to heart and held on to that hope, outlasting countless other slaves, until his chance finally came. During a naval skirmish, his unit was assigned to a warship to serve as a boarding party should the need arise. The battle turned against them, and their ship was soon ablaze. As the soldiers began to abandon ship, he saw his chance. Pretending to go down with the ship, he managed to conceal himself in the floating wreckage, despite being a weak swimmer. Left for dead, he made his way to shore the next day, once the forces had cleared the area. He immediately fled the area, hiring onto a merchant caravan as a guard to cover his escape as he made his way towards home. His return to Mirabar was met with mixed emotions from his family, who were glad to see that he was alive, but unhappy about the extra mouth to feed. Having been gone so long, he didn’t feel the sense of belonging he once had. When word reached him that New Phlan was seeking new residents he decided to set out for the city, hoping to finally find a place he could call home.